NCAA basketball on Thursday night and we will see the Gonzaga Bulldogs travel to Provo, Utah to take on the BYU Cougars. The game has a start time of 11:00 pm (Eastern) and will be televised on ESPN 2. Vegas odds have the Cougars listed as 3 point favorites, while the total sits at 151.
Analysis: Gonazga comes in with a mighty fine 23-4 record overall, while also going 13-1 within the WCC. Their lone conference loss was at Portland early in the WCC schedule, while one of their conference wins was a 15 point home victory over BY in January. The Bulldogs are a solid offensive team that has averaged 78.4 ppg on the year, while ranking 4th in the nation in FG%, hitting 50% of their shots. Kevin Pangos leads the offense with 15.2 ppg, and is one of the best long range shooters in the nation, hitting 41.8% of his shots from deep. Sam Dower (14.8 ppg) Gary Bell (11.5 ppg) and Pzremek Karnowski (10.8 ppg) round out the double digit scorers for the Bulldogs. On defense this team has been solid, allowing just 65.8 ppg on 40% shooting for the year.
The BYU Cougars have had a decent year, going 18-10 overall and 10-5 within the WCC. BYU has the most potent offense in the WCC and in the nation for that matter as they come in ranked 3rd in scoring at 85.5 ppg, while also ranking 55 th in shooting, hitting 46.9% of their shots. 4 players average in double digits for the Cougars, but the best of the bunch is Tyler Haws, who averages 24.1 ppg on the year. Tyler has hit 47.8% of his shots overall, 44.2% of his threes and 87.2% from the free throw line. He is clearly one of the best offensive players in the nation. Offense isn’t a problem for this team, but rather it is their defense. The Cougars have allowed 78.1 ppg on the year, to rank 331st in the nation.
Pick: I like the Over in this game. BYU is all about all offense and no defense as they have averaged 85.6 ppg , while allowing 78.7 ppg. At home they score 88.8 ppg and should get the pace where they want it in this one. Gonzaga has plenty of fire power and will get their fair share of points in the one. I see at least 155 points scored here.
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